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EPA's Sustainable Materials Management Program

Rethink. Think Beyond Waste doesn’t just mean making good decisions about the end of a product’s life cycle
(recycling, composting, energy recovery, and landfilling). It refers to sustainable materials management – the use and
reuse of materials in the most productive and sustainable way across their entire life cycle. Sustainable materials
management conserves resources, reduces waste, slows climate change, and minimizes the environmental impacts of the
materials we use. Learn more about SMM and what EPA is doing.